Social media, we are told, is 24/7 – and surely that extends to 365 days of the year. After all, it’s not Christmas for everyone and in a global setting Christmas (for those who celebrate it) comes at different hours .

There’s two main reasons for why any consumer label or brand worth its salt will have people monitoring social media channels though: happy customers and new customers.

Social Media at Xmas is all about customer service

Children of all ages – from 10 to 70 – are online now and at Christmas you can bet they will be sharing details of what they’ve been given as gifts. What a great opportunity to start building a customer relationship, on a happy and positive note. If someone tweets that they received one of your products, tweet back saying “hope you enjoy it” or add some extra value to the message you send them.

Whyte & Mackay for example (disclaimer: client) will be sending out links to videos to people who receive a bottle of their whisky – if someone mentions the Whyte & Mackay Special, they’ll get a greeting and a link to a whisky tasting notes video, which will let the person with the bottle compare their thoughts with that of the whisky Master Blender Richard Paterson:

Social Media at Xmas can also prevent a domestic crisis

But it’s not just about building a positive relationship. Having your brand online on Xmas Day can help make things go a lot smoother. Everyone has a toy or present that they can’t get to work right or build properly (old-school Transformers toys, Dr Who’s TARDIS and Mouse Trap I’m looking at you) and that can lead to frayed tempers in many a home.

But if you are online and see people having problems, perhaps you can jump in and help. Perhaps you’ve even been proactive and updated your website FAQ to head off potential Christmas problems. And if you’ve really wanted to be on Santa’s nice list you may even have included helpful how-to videos.

Christmas day is stressful enough for people, so if you are able to do something that helps that day go well or easier, people will remember that and you’ve minimised negative online PR for your company.

Just being helpful

It might not even be about a problem toy. People might just be wondering where to spend gift vouchers (you do have an online store that can take gift vouchers yes?), what hours your shops are open, what your exchange policy may be – all of these questions and many more will be asked on Christmas Day – some people might even want to spend their gift vouchers immediately.

I don’t want to work Christmas Day

Frankly, tough. Millions of people work Christmas Day – police, nurses, doctors, firemen, coastguards, journalists, PRs, soliders, pilots, air traffic controllers, parents, bar staff, singers, chefs, waiters. And that’s before we mention the big guy with the beard and the red outfit. If they can all do it, so can you.

And besides, if you’re doing it right – either just responding to people or helping fixing people’s problems, you’re bringing a bit of joy to someone on Christmas Day. And who wouldn’t want to do that?